This invention relates generally to dispensers for pre-moistened towelettes, and more particularly to a towelette dispenser having an improved lid closure construction designed to facilitate the removal of individual towelettes and maintain the dispenser in a sealed moisture-proof state.
Disposable towelettes fabricated of soft absorbent fibrous materials impregnated with cleansing agents and medicaments are known to the art. Such towelettes are widely used for a variety of personal care and medical purposes.
Pre-moistened towelettes have been introduced in individually wrapped moisture-proof plastic and metal foil packets. Packaging systems of this type have proved satisfactory where towelettes are used in public settings, for example, in restaurants and during travel, where convenience and economy require provision of individually wrapped towelettes. Similarly, in medical applications, individual packaging of towelettes is desirable for purposes of maintaining a sterile dispenser enclosure.
In home care applications, however, where towelettes are used with greater frequency, individually packaged towelettes present several disadvantages and generally have not proved practical. Principally, such systems have not offered ready accessibility to a supply of towelettes. Thus, it will be appreciated that a user must physically tear individual packets with both hands, limiting accessibility to the towelette supply, and the effectiveness of such packaging systems for home care applications. By way of example, in the care of infants, towelettes are used with regularity during feeding and at changing times for cleansing purposes. In such applications, it is most desirable to provide a supply of readily accessible towelettes in a moisture impervious dispenser to permit a user to attend to the infant without interruption.
It is also evident that the cost of individualized towelettes, when used in the home or similar settings, is disproportionately high. For such packaging to be more economical, larger quantities of towelettes must be made available in correspondingly bigger containers.
The prior art and the packaging industry have recognized the need for a dispenser which provides a readily accessible supply of towelettes and has commercialized a variety of moist tissue dispenser systems. In general, however, these systems have not proved entirely satisfactory for facilitating removal of towelettes, and at the same time maintaining the towelette supply in a moisture-proof state for extended periods of time.
Prior art systems directed to the home care market commonly include an open-mouthed container and removable lid having a transversely extending thinned region intermediate the front and rear edges of the lid. This arrangement provides a hinged door portion for access to an interior compartment of the container. Towelettes housed within the container are generally folded into individual napkins which are stacked one on top of the other for individual removal through the top access door. In order to seal the dispenser and prevent loss of moisture from the towelette supply prior to use, known systems also include a removable moisture impervious film or foil which is sealed to the top of the container between the lid closure and container body. Prior to the first use of the dispenser, the film is removed to provide access to the towelette supply.
One system of this type is exemplified by the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,074 to Hoffman, which discloses a dispenser including a container body having an upper lip which defines an opening into an interior chamber, and a removable snapon closure. The closure includes a top wall portion overlying the interior chamber, a downwardly and peripherally extending skirt overlying the outer walls of the container, and an integral flexible transverse hinge intermediate the front and rear ends of the closure. The hinge divides the closure into a stationary rear portion and a forward movable door portion for access to the towelette supply. To prevent the closure from being lifted from the container body, the peripheral skirt of the stationary portion of the cover includes an inwardly directed end projection, and inwardly directed side projections for engaging a peripherally extending shoulder of the container body. To prevent the closure from sliding off the rear of the container body, the cover portion also includes inwardly formed tabs which provide transversely spaced, rearwardly facing shoulders for engaging transversely spaced forwardly facing shoulders of the container body.
Hoffman's dispenser presents several disadvantages associated with the complex structure of the closure and with the position of the intermediate transverse hinge. Fundamentally, difficulties arise from placement of the hinge intermediate the front and rear ends of the closure in a location directly overlying the towelette supply. This arrangement limits accessibility to the towelette supply by partially obstructing access of a user's hand into the dispenser. As the towelette supply is exhausted, the intermediate hinge further impedes removal of towelettes by limiting access to the bottom interior end of the container. Intermediate placement of the hinge also limits the moisture retention effectiveness of the dispenser. In order to permit the hinge to function, Hoffman provides openings in the peripherally extending skirt at opposing ends of the hinge. These openings provide an undesirable passage for air into the chamber housing the towelette supply, resulting in a gradual loss of moisture from within the dispenser.
Finally, in the manufacture of the Hoffman dispenser, it will be appreciated that the lid fastening structure requires the cooperation of inwardly directed end and side projections, inwardly formed tabs and the container shoulders. These fastening features must be fabricated to exacting specifications to provide a secure lid attachment. In the fabrication of the dispenser, it is therefore necessary to employ a plastic having a uniform resiliency, so that the lid flanges and tabs are sufficiently flexible to effect a secure engagement of the lid to the container shoulders.
Another dispenser arrangement of the prior art directed to providing an accessible towelette supply is exemplified by the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,129 to Sedgwick. The Sedgwick patent discloses a dispenser including a container for storing a web of absorbent towelette material, and a removable cover having a central frusto-conical dispensing orifice. The web is divided by equally spaced transverse perforated lines to provide separable individual towelettes. The web is encoiled into a roll having a hollow core so that the towelettes may be advanced from the center of the roll without restraint through the dispensing orifice. The configuration of the dispensing orifice provides a "drag" restraining force to cut and facilitate severance of individual towelettes. In order to effect a moisture-proof enclosure, a cap is provided for sealing the dispenser. Although this approach has proved generally satisfactory for providing a moisture-proof closure, the dispenser itself has not proved to be particularly effective. In operation, the dispensing orifice configuration is often found to provide an insufficient restraining force to cause severance of individual towelettes at the lines of perforation in the web. When this occurs, it is necessary for a user of the dispenser to physically grasp the web at a location below a perforation line to prevent further advance of the web and then at the same time to sever a towelette. Aside from being cumbersome in operation, large numbers of towelettes are wasted when severance of a towelette is not effected.
There is thus a need in the part for a disposable towelette dispenser which provides ready accessibility to a towelette supply in a construction which maintains the dispenser in a moisture-proof state for an extended period of time. Such a dispenser should preferably be of uncomplicated design and provide improved manufacturing advantages.